“Mary Poppins” fans got something sweeter than a spoonful of sugar Friday, as Disney shared a glimpse of “The Girl on the Train” star Emily Blunt as the titular magical English nanny in “Mary Poppins Returns.” The live action film is set to fly into theaters on Christmas Day 2018.
The film also stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer and Julie Walters, with Colin Firth and Meryl Streep. “Mary Poppins Returns” introduces three new Banks children, played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and newcomer Joel Dawson. The movie also features cinema legends Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury.
Rob Marshall directs “Mary Poppins Returns,” which is produced by Marshall, John DeLuca and Marc Platt. The screenplay is by David Magee based on “The Mary Poppins Stories” by P.L. Travers. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are writing all new songs, and Shaiman is composing an original score.
“Mary Poppins Returns” is set in 1930s depression-era London, and draws from P.L. Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer), who were kids in Disney’s 1964 “Mary Poppins,” have grown up. Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), live on Cherry Tree Lane, the street on which he was raised. After Michael suffers a personal loss, Poppins (Blunt) reappears in the Banks’ world and partners with street lamplighter Jack (Miranda) to help the family rediscover joy and magic in their lives.
Here’s a first look at Blunt as Mary Poppins:
More to come…